Method of lacing or fastening boot and shoe uppers.



G. LEWIS.

METHOD OF LACING OR FASTENING BOOT AND SHOE UPPERS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 22. 1913..

1,1 61,87 1. y Patented Nov. 3o, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH Co..w^smwr.'rnu n c G. LEWIS. METHOD 0F LACING 0RFASTENING BOOT AND SHOE UPPERS.

' APBLlcATloN FILED Nov. 22. 1913.

1,1 61,871. Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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CDLUMBIA PLANOQRAPH c0..wAsHxNaTaN, D. c.

GEORGE LEWIS, OF NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND.

llVIlEVJTI-IOLD 0F LACING 0R FASTENING BOOT AND SHOE UPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented NOV, 30, 1915,

Application filed November 22, 1913. .Serialpltay SZASS.

To all whom it may concern: vBe it known that GEORGE LEwrs, a subject'oftheKing of Great Britain, residing at Northampton, in the countyofrNorthampton, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Methods of Lacing or Fastening Boot and Shoe Uppers, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing. i l

This invention relates to a newV or irnproved device for and method oflacing or fastening boot and shoe uppers during the.

process of manufacture. Y

'It is customary, during the process of manufacture of boots and shoes,tofasten the fronts of the uppers together atrone or more places for thepurpose of keeping them closed, and more particularly when the boot orshoe is being lasted, to enable the upper to be drawn tightly down tothe last and at the same time retain the original lines of the upperpattern; This fastening is usually effected by the insertion of a lace,rigidy metal hook, or string or cord through the eyelets in the edges ofthe upper. e

The present invention comprehends a new or improved method of and meansfor securing boot and shoe uppers in the inanner above mentioned, suchmethod and means being of simple character and operation, and which willnot injure the eyelets, and will enable the upper to be readilyfastened, and instantaneously unfastened when required, and will alsoallow the upper to fit down to the last no matter whether instep of lastbe Wide or narrow.

. The device of this invention is adapted to deal with uppers of variousshapes and with eyelets of any size, and may be `rea`dilyad justed tosuit variations in the length of spacing of eyelets.

According to this invention there is employed a length of cord or otherlacing material, a device ,for threading said cord through the eyeletsof the upper .to be fastened, and a hook or other suitable member to'secure the cord in position'when-threaded through the eyelets.

"The method ac lopted consists in using a length of woven thread, cordvor the like (preferably formed `by tying or otherwise into' endlessloop, tisana-for a'purpose hereinafter-f described). the sad thread :or

e ofthe boot or shoe to the other.

cord being applied to the boot or shoe upper by drawingit through asuitable number of corresponding eyelets on each side of the upper, thecord being drawn through said eyelets in the form of loops from one sideAfter being drawn through the eyelets in the two edges of the upper asdescribed, 'a hook, rod or other suitable locking device is passedthrough the ends of the loops Which are thereby prevented from beingpulled out.

It will be understood that a separate loop ofthe lace or fasteningvcord'` is drawn through each 'pair of corresponding or coincidingeyelets in the edges of the upper and thatv the device for securing saidloops passes through all of them. Upon withdrawal of the locking hook orthe like from the'loop's the fastening lace or cord maybe pulled out tounfasten the upper.

For the purpose ofl drawing the loops of the fastening lace or cordthrough two or more of the lacing eyelets of the boot or shoe upper, adevice or apparatusis pro# vided comprising `a, plurality of membersadapted and arranged for a number of the eyeletsk to be passed thereon,and to engage each a portion of the lacingcord so that when the upper isdrawn off said members, the latter `will each draw a loop of thefastening lace or cord through the eyelet which is drawn oli it. y i lvThese threading members conveniently consist of needles provided attheir end with a hook to'engage the fastening cord.4 The panyingdrawings which illustrate a practi- Y cal example of the manner in whichthe invention may be carried into effect.

In the drawings referred to :,-Figure 1 represents a loop of cord to beused for fastening a boot upper. Fig. 2 shows a convenient form oflocking Pin- Fg- 3 .represents a boot upper laced or fastenedaccordinsto .the meth-,0d included in this invention Fig? 41S a planet athr ing device-z Fig. is ,a side View .oise-n1, Figs and .7i are planviews showing the method of threading the eyelets ofthe upper by thedevice of Figs. Ll and 5.

Like parts are designated by the same reference characters in thosetliev are repeated.'

The method of lacing involved consists in using a loop a', of cord orthe like such as shown in Fig. 1, and drawing it through coincidingeyelets in the sides of the upper'in the form of loops t, in the vmannerrepre-V f sented in Fig. 3, a locking pin c, being then passed throughthe loops Z), between their ends andthe outside of thehupper, which pinserves to'prevent the'withdrawal of the loops L. `The fastening pin c,conveniently consists of a wire loop having one side approximatelystraight and adapted, as shown in Fig. 3, to constitute a bolt whenpassed through the ends of the loops Z), as aforesaid. The other side d,ofthe wire loop forms a spring bow the end e, of which makes contactwith the aforesaid straight side o, and serves to preventthe accidentalwithdrawal of the hook from the loops b. The contacting end e, of thespring bow d, is bent outward as shown in F ig. 2 to enable the pin c tobe forcibly passed through and withdrawn from the loops when required.By using the lace or fastening cord in the j form of an endless loopsuch as a, the same is prevented from being pulled right through vtheeyelets when the individual loops b, are

drawn through from one side of the boot to the other, with the resultthat when in use, the lace or cord holds one side of the upper closed byreason of its being endless f in form as shown at vthe left hand side ofFig.

`3) while the other side of the upper is held by the ends of the loopsZ), being secured on the outside thereof by the fastening pin c, theindividual loops b, extending from one side of the upper to the otherand through 'the corresponding eyelets in each. Obviously, instead ofusing kthe fastening cord in the form of an endless loop suchaspreviouslyrdescribed, it may be provided at each end with a button orsome similar means or length, such loopsmay be formed 'by tyingV thefastening lace or cord around a block of the size required, or two ormore fingers, pins or the like set to the lrequired distance apart. Byforming all the endless loops on this block or other means, they mayall-,be made the saine definite length. The block figures where or othermeans may be adjustable for making loops of the diiferent lengths whichmay be required.

The ends of thefastening lace or cord may be secured together to `formthe endless loop otherwise than by tying if desirable, as for instanceby means of a tag or clip or by some such auxiliary device.-

The device for performing the threading operation comprises a pluralityof needles 1, 2, 3, (Fig. 1) each provided at its operative end with ahook el (Fig. 5) to receive the fastening cord. These needles areadapted for the upper to be passed thereon as will be described later.

According to a concrete form of the threading device, illustrated inFigs. t and 5 of the drawings, the needles 1, 2, 3, are mounted upon ablock 5 adapted for attachment to a bench or other support such forinstance as by the lugs G throughwhich suitable holding means may bepassed. The

central needle 2 is clamped in a fixed block 7 by a screw 7a. Movable toand fro along guideways S in the block 5 are blocks 9 and 10-one on eachside ofthe lixed block 7- these blocks carrying the needles 1 and 3vrespectively which are clamped in position by screws 9a, and 10%V Themovable blocks 9 and l0 are pressed toward the fixed block 7 by springs11 and are simultaneously' adj ustable relatively to said fixed block tovary the-spacing between the three needles by means of aY transverselyslidable wedge 12 which engages said movable needle blocks vand is movedbetween saine by a rotary screw 13. It will be understood that thesprings 11 and wedge 12 coperate to efect o the beforenientionedadjustment of the needle blocks 9 and 10, that is to say the needlespacing is increased by an outward movement of the wedge 12 which movesthe blocks 9 and 10 against the action of the springs 11, while theneedle spacing is decreased by an inward movement of the wedge 12 thespring 11 pressing the blocks 9 and 10 against the sides of the wedge.

The wedge 12 is guided in its movements by the sides 14: of a guidewayin the block 5, and also by a projection 15 on the block the wedge 12being bifurcated centrally at 16 to embrace said projection. The blocks9 and 10 and the wedge 12 `are prevented from upward displacement fromtheir guideways in the block 5 by a corner plate 17 which is slotted at18 and 19 forthe reduced pai'ts of the blocks 9 and 10 to projectthrough and move along.

By means of the adjusting means just describedV the needles 1 and 3 kareadjusted equally in relation to the intermediate needle 2 but by meansof screw threaded rods 20, 21, an unequal adjustment of the movableblocks 9, 10, may be elfected if desired, or

'by means oftheserods the inward relative movement of the blocks 9 and10 may be restricted to give a desired minimum needle spacing. The rodsQ0, 21, are screw threaded into the blocks 9 and 10, and are slidablethrough bearings 22 on the block 5.

In a variation of the constructional form shown, the movable needlecarrying blocks 9, 10 may be formed to engage or be engaged by thecoperating wedge 12 so that the latter will actuate the blocks in bothdirections thus eliminating the use of the before mentioned springs 11.One manner of effecting this may consist in providing undercut groovesin the slide or block which grooves are engaged by projections on theblocks or slide.

By increasing the number of movable needle carrying blocks and thenumber of inclined faces on the actuating slide a device such as thathereinbefore described may have more than three needles (for example itmight have four or five) -these being adjustable in the manner set forthso that vthey may be spaced to suit the pitch of the eyelets in theupper. Vhen, as just mentioned, more than three needles are provided,the adjusting means are constructed to move the needles so that theyalways bear the same ratio.

In using the device the needles are adj usted so that their spacingcorresponds with the spacing of the eyelets in the boot upper to bethreaded. The eyelets in the sides of the upper which are to be threadedare placed upon the needles l, 2, 3 the coinciding or correspondingeyelets in the two sides of the upper being placed upon the same needlesin the manner shown in Fig. 6. After the upper has been placed on theneedles-the latter penetrating the eyeletsthe fastening loop a, isplaced in the hooks t and then the upper is drawn o, whereupon eachneedle l, 2, 3 holds a loop b of the cord which loops consequentlyextend through the eyelets as shown in Fig. 7. The fastening pin 0 maybe passed through the ends of the loops b either before or after thelatter are removed from the hooks 4.

To facilitate the withdrawal of the eyelets from the threading needles,the hooks of the latter may have pivoted latches or guards (not shown)combined therewith which will close or guard the open hook and preventthe latter catching the eyelets. Such latches may or may not be springcontrolled. e

Instead of the hooks at the ends of thread- Ving members other suitablemeans such as form a curved row instead of straight. This may beprovided for in a convenient manner, for example -the needles may beinserted in different holes in the carrying blocks, or the latter may becapable of adjustment by screwing, or bent or cranked needles may beused.

Instead of the locking pin heretofore described, a pin or bolt having ahead at one end might be used, the said bolt or pin having combinedtherewith a cord or an expansible opposite end or some device forattachment to its opposite end to prevent its withdrawal from the loopsthrough which it passes.

What I claim then is 1. The herein described method of fastening the twosides of a boot or shoe upper, which consists in forming an endless loopof flexible cord, doubling the same at intervals into shorter loops,passing the latter through the coinciding eyelets on opposite sides ofthe upper, and inserting a wire fastening pin through the protrudingends of said short loops, substantially as described.

2. The herein described method of fastening the two sides of a boot orshoe upper, which consists in the forming of a length of flexible cordinto an endless loop, forming in the loop a plurality of shorter loops,drawing the shorter loops through the coinciding Y GE ORGE LEWIS.

Witnesses:

E. N. LEWIS, GEORGE LESTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. f

